It's day three of celebrating our women here at SEP, and in the spotlight today is Annabel (AJ) Waller who is another of our women in a key role making our business a success.
AJ is our People Engagement & Communications Manager now but her journey started in a haze of figures in the payroll department.
Take a look at her story below.
"In 2011 after working for 9 years in various administrative roles for the NHS I was made redundant during one of their many reorganisations. Within a couple of weeks, I saw a job for a part time payroll assistant, and despite not being qualified I applied anyway as the location and hours were ideal.
Well, would you believe it, I got the job and so my journey with SEP began.
I didn’t stay in payroll for long as the then ‘Office Guru’, Ann, had plans to retire and as my background was admin I was trained up to take over from her.
From there I became the administration manager, progressing to the office manager, moving on to people engagement and now, here I am as the people engagement and communications manager after completing the Foundation Diploma in Internal Communications with the IOIC.
I love this role. It means I can get out of the office, put my boots on and head to event sites to keep in touch with our people, understanding what they enjoy, what aspirations they have and most importantly letting them know that I’m here to support them wherever possible.
We have an amazing culture here at SEP and I get to work on increasing engagement, improving the employee experience, and making it a great workforce to be part of.
I also work with a local charity as a volunteer mentor for a project supporting vulnerable women in our area. This is such rewarding work, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with and empower some amazingly strong women.
I was never very career orientated, but now I have a real passion to make a difference and work my way up the ladder. After not studying for over 30 years, and never going to university, the diploma was challenging but I enjoyed every part of it. Despite the strange year we have all just been through, I can honestly say I feel more motivated than ever before. Using the time to reflect and look at all the possibilities ahead it’s clear that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
My message to anyone listening is you can achieve anything you want with drive and focus, and it’s never too late.
Dream. Believe. Achieve.
I am at the point where my work generally doesn’t feel like work because I love helping people – just don’t tell my boss that!"
